Yesterday started off as an average day in our little office, out of 7 midwives there were 3 working. Within 30 minutes though things were looking rather problematic as there was a homebirth ‘niggling’ and both the on-call midwives were from our office. We spoke to our ‘mothership’, the main community midwives office, and asked them if one of them could attend if required during the day as the homebirth woman was in their area rather than ours. They declined. The problem was that us 3 all had commitments, including a full antenatal clinic, so if the on-calls were needed there was no way the clinic could be covered. Support was sought from our manager, her advise was to wait and see and then cancel the clinic if the homebirth called the midwives. We were all seething, the women don’t appreciate the machinations that go on behind the scenes and will just feel abandoned so I said that if the worse happens we should advise the women to write to the manager about it, as that’s the only way that anything will be done about the staffing levels. The other 2 midwives immediately jumped on me, ‘no we mustn’t do that, we are not allowed to tell the women to complain.’ My colleague then went on to relate how she was disciplined for advising a couple to write a letter of complaint. The reason. Well apparently if a complaint is put in writing they have to respond and be seen to take action. Well blow me down, I thought that was the whole objective of putting in a complaint, whether in writing or verbally, someone taking notice of it!
I have a multitude of issues with all this. If we complain nothing at all gets done, unless we go to occupational health and tell them we are stressed, and you really don’t want to do that as it goes on your record. Most of the time the discord we feel is due to the impact that restraints on the service have on our women and the care we can provide. The women will, obviously, grumble to us about shortcomings, but it is pointless us presenting the issues to managers, as they do nothing, so if that’s the case it is sensible to advise the women to let the managers know how they feel. Now though I’m just supposed to absorb all the discontent, knowing that the women may as well be talking to a brick wall, as I can’t suggest that if they feel strongly they should write in because no one is going to take any notice of me.
Why else am I stunned by the idiocy of the system? Once again it’s the staffing issues. Here we are in a situation where the government is promoting homebirth, where the maternity services (the midwives) are being told to increase the homebirth rate, and all this within a service which already has problems fulfilling routine commitments. Is it so difficult to perceive that increasing the number of homebirths will also require an increase in the number of midwives available and that if this doesn’t happen then other aspects of care will suffer, like antenatal clinics.
Finally, is this a ‘whistleblowing’ by proxy issue? We should be able to highlight problems within the service without censure. We can certainly do that, as long as it’s not in writing. However, give women advise on how to raise issues effectively and you are disciplined. Catch-22 methinks.
The homebirth happened. The clinic was cancelled. One happy new Mummy and baby, 12 unhappy pregnant women.
A truly ridiculous state of affairs. As you say it is policy to give women the birth experience that they want where ever this is possible and they are constantly reminded to attend ante-natal appointments, and yet you are having to cancel them because of lack of resources. This should be a cause for complaint, by the expectant mothers and by yourselves, and should not cause any disciplinary action to be taken. You are merely highlighting a problem and asking for something to be done about it. It strikes me that your managers are not worth the salary that they are being paid if they are not willing to support you over something that could put the life of the mothers and their unborn babies at risk. When something truly catastrophic occurs you can be sure that the managers will turn round and say that no-one told them that there was a problem. This is a clear case of bullying in the workplace and should be properly dealt with.
On another tack, I have now started the lace shawl for the third time and I am hoping that things will progress well this time. I will carry on knitting and when it has grown sufficiently I shall post a picture or two of the real thing rather than the pictures from the pattern.
I hope that things are well with Son and DIL and that Evie is behaving herself.
That stinks.
Must admit, in my role within the NHS, I tell people that if they are not happy they can conplain – though I generally advise them to contact the PALS officer. (It still gets recorded and must be acted upon.)
I am with you – we are here for the patients and if the patients are suffering mroe than necessary they should be in a position to find out why. I am here to help my patients and if the powers that be want to try and discipline me for doing that and advising my patients of their rights then………. bring it on! I’ll be happy to tell the world!
If we’re not here for our patients, we shouldn’t be here!
Madsadgirl – Things are going from bad to worse, hence my silence over the past few days. I may not be writing here but my diary is full of notations regarding the staffing issues at the moment!
Blue Spice – I have my IPR on Tuesday, I look forward to the ‘is there anything you wish to discuss’ question.
I think complaining is a red-light that signals that something must be done better.
How I wish that people in my country knew how to properly complain. Even if the people here receiver awful health care, they don’t complain, they just pass the deets unto other people. Things like this should always go through the proper channels.
As someone newly pregnant I am so unimpressed with the health care commission reports, lack of hospital cleanliness and the reviews from other women about horror birth stories that I think i am going to go for a home birth. At least I will be able to ensure my house is clean and hopefully I will be able to get dedicated care from midwifes, my greatest fear is not being able to get this in a hospital setting, because the resources are stretched. The best option would be the one happy mother, as opposed to someone who is just another number in a hospital.
As you say –
The homebirth happened. The clinic was cancelled. One happy new Mummy and baby, 12 unhappy pregnant women.
lemoncake – As you have identifed, for the individual woman a homebirth is the favourite option. One to one care and, dependant on where you live, care from a known midwie. However, as you have obviously gleened from my post, that may have a cost for other women and that is so, so wrong. A repercussion is also that any woman affected may feel let down, not by the system, but by her midwife or team. The system needs a major overhaul.